Al-Zuq al-Tahtani

Al-Zuq al-Tahtani
Residents of al-Zuk al-Tahtani seen from a Palmach convoy. 1947
Al-Zuq al-Tahtani
Arabic الزوق التحتاني
Name meaning the lower Zuk (Zuk is a Syriac word meaning "town", or "village")[1]
Subdistrict Safad
Coordinates 33°12′54″N 35°36′04″E / 33.21500°N 35.60111°E / 33.21500; 35.60111Coordinates: 33°12′54″N 35°36′04″E / 33.21500°N 35.60111°E / 33.21500; 35.60111
Palestine grid 205/291
Population 1,050[2][3] (1948)
Area 11,634 dunams
Date of depopulation May 11, 1948[4]
Cause(s) of depopulation Influence of nearby town's fall
Current localities Beyt Hillel[5]

Al-Zuq al-Tahtani was a Palestinian Arab village in the Safad Subdistrict. It was depopulated during the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine on May 11, 1948, by the Palmach's First Battalion of Operation Yiftach. It was located 30 km northeast of Safad.

History

In 1875, Victor Guérin noted it south of Al-Zuq al-Fawqani, but with lesser important ruins.[6] In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described Zuk et Tahta: "Stone and mud village, with ruined Arab houses on north side, and a mill; contains about 100 Moslems; situated on the Huleh Plain ; arable land around, and a large stream near."[7]

British Mandate era

In the 1931 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Al-Zuq al-Tahtani had a population of 626 Muslims, in a total of 137 houses.[8]

In the 1945 statistics, the village had a total population of 1,050 Muslims,[2] with a total of 11,634 dunams of land, according to an official land and population survey.[3] Of this, Arabs used 5,547 for plantations and irrigable land, 2,145 dunums were for cereals;[9] while a 39 dunams were classified as built-up, urban areas.[10]

1948, aftermath

It became depopulated on May 11, 1948,[4] in the aftermath of Operation Broom.[11]

Beyt Hillel was established on Al-Zuq al-Tahtani land.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Palmer, 1881, p. 38
  2. 1 2 Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 11
  3. 1 2 Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p.71
  4. 1 2 Morris, 2004, p. xvi, village #9. Also gives cause of depopulation.
  5. 1 2 Khalidi, 1992, p. 510
  6. ↑ Guérin, 1880, p. 534
  7. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p. 90
  8. ↑ Mills, 1932, p. 111
  9. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 121
  10. ↑ Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics. Village Statistics, April, 1945. Quoted in Hadawi, 1970, p. 171
  11. ↑ Morris, 2004, pp. 250-251

Bibliography

  • Conder, C.R.; Kitchener, H.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. 1. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
  • Department of Statistics (1945). Village Statistics, April, 1945. Government of Palestine.
  • Guérin, V. (1880). Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine (in French). 3: Galilee, pt. 2. Paris: L'Imprimerie Nationale.
  • Hadawi, S. (1970). Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine. Palestine Liberation Organization Research Center.
  • Khalidi, W. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. ISBN 0-88728-224-5.
  • Mills, E., ed. (1932). Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas. Jerusalem: Government of Palestine.
  • Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-00967-6.
  • Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.